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2020 Travel Baseball Details - COVID UPDATES

UpdatedTuesday May 26, 2020 byBYB.

5/25 UPDATE - Please click on the downloadable PDF attachment at the bottom of this page to read the entire Travel Ball Commitment Letter. This letter was emailed to all 8/10/11/12 YO registered players earlier today.

AGE DETERMINATION DATE FOR TRAVEL DIVISIONS IS 4/30 OF THIS YEAR. If interested in Travel Ball, your player must go to the tryout that corrseponds to their age on 4/30/20.

11 & 12 YO PLAYERS - the sessions outlined below are only for players interested in travel ball - they are not for League placement (AAA/MAJORS). Please see our 5/11/20 COVID-19 Update for information on how League Division placements will be made (due to COVID-19).

PARENTS - Please print/sign the last page of the letter, and bring to tryouts. As we will be doing check-in while players are in cars, we will not have time to have the forms completed at check-in.

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Thank you for your interest in having your child tryout for Bismarck Youth Baseball’s (BYB) 2020 Travel Baseball program. BYB is a non-profit organization that sponsors youth league baseball and travelling teams for Cal Ripken baseball in the 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-year old age groups. For Travel Ball, BYB may sponsor up to two teams per age group, depending upon the number of tryout participants and the results of the tryout process. If there are enough players to field two teams within an age group, the players with the top 12 tryout results will be placed on the “Americans” roster and the next 12 players will be placed on the “Nationals” roster. On an infrequent basis, a team’s roster may be expanded to 13 players if tryout results are simply too close to differentiate.

Due to changes brought about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had to alter the travel ball tryout process for the 2020 season. Please see below for the adjusted process.

There will be one mandatory tryout session for each age group (9s, 10s, 11s, and 12s). To be considered for a roster, your child is required to attend each session to get a valid session score. Players DO NOT have to pre-sign up – just come to the complex as outlined below. Dates and times of sessions are as follows:

  1. Thursday, May 28, 2020 – Scheels Complex – East Fields
    1. 11-Year Olds – From 5:30 to 7:00 pm
      1. Players should be dropped off no later than 5:15 pm, so they can be on the field ready to start the tryout at 5:30 pm.
      2. If there is a rain-out, the session will be moved to Sun, May 31st at 2 pm.
    2. 12-Year Olds – From 7:30 – 9:00 pm
      1. Players should be dropped off no later than 7:15 pm, so they can be on the field ready to start the tryout at 7:30 pm.
      2. If there is a rain-out, the session will be moved to Sun, May 31st at 4 pm.
  2. Sunday, May 31, 2020 – Scheels Complex – East Fields  
    1. 9-Year Olds – From 10:00 to 11:30 am
      1. Players should be dropped off no later than 9:45 am, so they can be on the field ready to start the tryout at 10:00 am.
      2. If there is a rain-out, the session will be moved to Thurs, June 4th at 5:30 pm.
    2. 10-Year Olds – From 12:00 to 1:30 pm
      1. Players should be dropped off no later than 11:45 am, so they can be on the field ready to start the tryout at 12:00 pm.
      2. If there is a rain-out, the session will be moved to Thurs, June 4th at 7:30 pm.

NOTE – There will not be an exception to these dates/times. Players must attend the appropriate sessions as outlined above, to be considered for a 2020 BYB Travel Team.

COVID-19 CONSIDERATIONS

League officials will have the tryouts organized in a way that will accommodate social distancing guidelines to the extent that it is possible. We will check-in players in the parking lot. So, we ask all families to follow the protocol outlined below:

  • Upon arrival at the complex, drive down to the East end of the parking lot, park your vehicles and stay in it until a League official comes to you.
  • Once we come to your vehicle, we will verify that your family has signed these two documents:
    • Updated BYB Waiver and Release of Liability (including COVID-19 language)
    • Updated 2020 Traveling Team Tryout Information and Letter of Intent (this document)
  • We will also ask a variety of questions to verify the following information:
    • Player is not sick.
    • There are no current COVID-19 positive cases in the player’s immediate household.
  • Once that is complete, player can exit the vehicle, grab their gear and proceed to the field.
  • The parent may either leave or move their vehicle down to the West end parking lot and remain at that end for the duration of the tryout session. NO SPECATATORS ALLOWED ON EAST END.
  • Once tryouts have been completed, players can be picked up on the West end of parking lot.

Player’s should arrive for tryouts no less than 15 minutes before their scheduled start time in order to get checked in and be able to get to the field before the designated start time. Baseball attire should be worn for tryouts and players should each bring their own glove. Players are not allowed to wear any BYB travelling jerseys or caps from previous years, or any clothing with their name on it. Note: It is the parent’s responsibility to spend time getting players in basic shape (i.e. arm strength, aerobic conditioning, etc.) prior to tryouts. 

Due to the change in tryout venue, there is no “tryout fee”. However, if your child is selected to be on a travel team, there will be an additional $75 player fee to help offset tournament fees, uniforms, and equipment costs. There will be no refunds.

TRYOUT PROCESS OVERVIEW

This tryout sessions will be judged by independent (i.e. none of their own children will be players in the tryout group), experienced, and knowledgeable adult volunteers. As we have had in prior years, each judging station will have an independent judge to ensure consistent scores are achieved. Each player will be assigned a number for scoring, and the tryout process will ensure that no scoring mix-up occurs. 

Travel Tryout:

Warmup:              

Ability to follow Direction and Warmup as Instructed.

Hitting:                  

Each player will get 10 cuts and 5 bunt attempts.                

Throwing:

A throwing drill will focus on player mechanics, accuracy, and arm strength.  This will be performed without a mound and will start 20 feet apart and will gradually expand to a distance of approximately 100 feet apart.

Running the Bases:

Each player will be timed, by stopwatch, on their running from Home to 2nd Base. 

Infield / Outfield:

Each player will participate in various infield and outfield drills designed to expose the player to varying in-game situations and evaluate the player for both awareness and execution.  

This tryout session will be evaluated by last year’s travel coaches.

Tryout results will be reviewed by the BYB Travel Committee and the previous years’ head coaches. Based on these results, the travel team(s) will be selected and team rosters will be posted to the BYB website.   

INFORMATIONAL PARENT MEETING

BYB will hold a general informational meeting for parents at 9:15 am on Sunday, May 31st – prior to the stat of the 9-year old time session. This meeting will be held at the Concession Stand area and is mandatory for parents of players that are trying out for the first time. During this meeting, the BYB Director of Travel Baseball will discuss travel baseball philosophy, minimum play-time standards, etc. For parents of 9-year old players, your children will stay in the lobby area and be checked in while the parents are inside and attending the meeting. Parents of 10 to 12-year old players do not have to bring your child to the dome for this meeting.

RULES AND EXPECTATIONS FOR TRAVELLING BASEBALL

  1. Attendance at all designated tryouts is mandatory to be considered for a travelling team. We understand that there can be various conflicts and have done our best to schedule tryout dates that encourage attendance and participation. 
  2. If selected to be on a travel team, and in order to prevent a hardship for traveling teams and league teams, no player shall:
    1. Miss more than one travelling tournament per year and must attend all of the post-season tournaments (may include State, Regionals, or World Series);
    2. Miss more that 10% of the travelling team practices; and 
    3. Miss more than 15% of their regular season, BYB league games. 

BYB understands that conflicts may occasionally arise. However, the above participation requirements are important for the experience of the team. Travel teams typically participate in 4-8 tournaments per year, as will be determined by the head coach and group of parents at a preseason team meeting. In addition, there will be practices, end of year advancing tournaments (state, regional (if qualify), and world series (if qualify), and some scrimmages as arranged by the head coach. BYB will limit the number of invitational tournaments for the 9-year old travel team to three per year and such tournaments will not exceed a 400-mile radius from Bismarck, ND. In addition, there will be season-end State tournaments that will be held July 30 – August 2. If a player or parent has any hesitation as to fulfilling the above commitments, then the player should not try out for Travel Ball.

  1. Parents of travel players must be willing participants to attend the tournaments and scrimmages as selected by the coach and parents. BYB covers up to $800 in entry fees per team, as well as the entry fees for a BYB-hosted invitational tournament and each Cal Ripken State Baseball Tournament. Any additional costs and tournament fees will be at the expense of the travelling team parents.
  2. Parents of travel players must be willing volunteers to help run any Cal Ripken Baseball Tournament hosted by BYB (invitational or State). At the start of the season, a $50 tournament fee will be assessed to all travelling parents. If parents volunteer for the above tournaments, the $50 fee will be refunded at the conclusion of the season.
  3. Each player that is selected to be on a travel team will receive a uniform. This uniform is to only be worn for game purposes. Each travel team may also choose to purchase other BYB-approved apparel as well. The cost for additional apparel is the responsibility of the parents. 
  4. In travel baseball, play-time is not equal. In addition, players are not guaranteed to have an equal rotation of infield or outfield positions or certain placement within the batting order. BYB relies upon its coaches to determine what is in the best interest of the team. That said, BYB has adopted a minimum play-time policy for travel ball (which actually exceeds Cal Ripken requirements), which includes the following:
    1. Invitational Tournaments – Each player shall play a minimum of six defensive outs and one at-bat per game. Understanding that games may be shortened for reasons outside of the coach’s control (i.e. weather, 10-run rule, etc.), there may be occasions when this minimum play-time standard is not achieved.
    2. Advancing Tournaments (i.e. State, Regionals, World Series) – Each player shall make no less than one appearance per game. An appearance includes the following: a pinch hitter for the completion of one full at-bat, a pinch runner, a pitching change to face the minimum of one batter, a defensive substitution for the minimum of one defensive out, etc. 

Play-time discussions will not be held outside of determining whether the coach has met BYB’s minimum play-time standards.

  1. BYB will not tolerate poor sportsmanship of any kind, on or off the field, by a player, parent, relative, or friends. It is understood that poor sportsmanship behavior could result in ejection from attending travel baseball events along with the player’s removal from the travel team.

Criticism, including the use of social media, of fellow players, parents of fellow players, coaches, umpires, tournament officials, or BYB officials is unsportsmanlike, unproductive, and would be a poor reflection on our teams, league, and community.  

  1. Travel rosters will be posted to the BYB website by April 7, 2020. This will be the only form of communication as to if your child made, or did not make, a travel roster. There will be no post tryout discussions on the results, scores, or agreement/disagreement of a player’s tryout results.
  2. BYB will select the Head Coach for each travel team.  It will be the responsibility of the Head Coach to select two Assistant Coaches and a Team Coordinator.

BYB Letter Travel Ball_COVID Changes